:)

That is all. Happy Monday!

C'est Sold!

Got the call this morning...the buyer DID end up waiving the conditions and the deal is firm!!!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

So, we gotta be out by December 11th...a mere 17 days away!

Better get packing and better get buying.

Another strange tidbit-our last house was sold about November 3, 2008. This house sold on November 16, 2009. I guess we're fall sellers.

Gouing to see 4 places tonight-hope one of them's our next home!

The buying side of things

Well, this is a new experience for us. Being a home buyer and all.

Sure, we're looking for our 3rd home. But...our first 2 were new construction, so the 'looking' part was pretty easy. Cruise websites for floorplans and locations (and prices) we liked, check out the showhomes and essentially custom order your home. Sounds like fun, right?

Yeah, it was I won't lie. But we definitely wanted to try for resale this time around.

1-Time. we're on a serious time constraint. Builders are too, but a very different one. There's no way we could have even got an inventory home this quick.

2-This urban sprawl business. I admit I've added to it with our previous homes, but I'd like to not be a sulprit it I can avoid it. I like greenspace and having animals in the 'wild'.

3-The project. Hubs is handy, I've always said he was. And I like to think I'm pretty darn handy for an accountant too. Plus, I think we work well together, have good ideas and have good taste. So the project of taking something less than perfect and working to get it closer is definitely appealing.

4-Land! New construction doesn't have any. Well, certainly none we'd be able to afford anytime soon. Most try to squeeze as many lots in as small an acreage as possible, making for fairly small, very close lots.

5-It's new. We haven't done it before, and we're not planning to stay in the next house for more than a couple years at most, so what do we have to lose? It's exciting, it's something new and it gives us more information on the real estate market/industry.

So last Friday, I sided with hubs and decided to have some faith and trust that this sale would work out. I'm still not 100% (as evidenced by my unwillingness to pack up anything that we'd need to immediately unpack if the deal falls through), but I'm getting there. And I've certainly acknowledged that if we have a hope in hell of moving into a house on the 11th, and not temporarily boarding with a relative, we have to get our behinds in gear.

We called an agent with a couple degrees of separation that my sister used successfully to buy their first home recently and has been raving about since. She started quickly, setting up our first showing that very evening. It was a bit of a dud-not her fault at all. It fit our criteria, there were just some very serious problems we weren't willing to take on. But...it was pretty neat to try the 'buyers' shoes on.

Since then, every single house we've inquired about has been sold, conditionally sold, or taken off the market. SONUVA!!!

And then...last night at graduation night from level 2 cake classes, our agent (who is 36 weeks pregnant) called and is now due any day. So she's understandably and obviously off the case, but referred us to a friend and seemingly great agent.

The new agent has set up a new search for us and I'm working her to the bone! We're feeling the crunch for sure and, although we're not desperate, at the same time we kind of are. So...I e-mailed her 12 listings from her search to look at...12! Surely there'll be something worthwhile in there...anyone? Anyone????

I'm finally excited about all of this.


Now if only my lawyer would call that the deal's 100%.

Update

I know this has been an incredibly dry blog for some time now, and I apologize for that. It's been a busy, stressful time for a number of reasons and hopefully soon I can get back to shopping, idea boards and fun stuff. For now though, it's another picture-less, all talk update on sale progress...

So, here's what's been happening since Monday (apart from stress, anxiety and general unease).

Yesterday (Thursday) was the deadline we set for the negotiation worksheet to be prepared into an Agreement of Purchase & Sale, sent to the lawyers and signed. Yesterday at 5:00 specifically.

So Tuesday I called our lawyer just to give him a heads up that a) we were selling, b) we had sold, and c) there should be some paperwork coming to him. I left a message with his receptionist and left my number, but no call back. That's fine-he's my Godfather, so I'm sure he's looking out for my best interest and would call as soon as anything came in.

Thursday I called back to check in-he hadn't received anything as of 10:30 or so, so hubs called the buyer and asked what was up. The buyer mis-read the document and thought he had until 5:00 Thursday to get the paperwork to his lawyer. Fortunately he realized this on Wednesday, so had delivered the deposit cheque and signed paperwork then. However, it still hadn't made it to our lawyer yet, so there was no relief late yesterday afternoon as we had hoped for.

Bright and early this morning, I get a call from our lawyer (he's a very early riser) saying he has the agreement, read me the clauses. Everything sounded kosher until...he said there was a financing and inspection condition. Say what?! Hubs and the buyer had agreed to no conditions as he'd been pre-approved, the home was brand spankin' and it was still very well covered by new home warranty. So I called hubs in a panic, who then called the buyer. The buyer mentioned his lawyer advised him to add these conditions for extra insurance and he was considering voiding them anyways.

OK-I can understand his desire for extra insurance, but this is an incredibly time sensitive deal. We close in 3 WEEKS! According to this new agreement, he has until next Friday to satisfy these conditions. So...cynic that I've become (thus not wanting to act until this deal is 100%), that means that starting next Friday, we'd need to find, purchase and move into a new place in a span of 2 weeks. Which also happens to be 2 weeks before Christmas. Um---my little heart canNOT handle that.

Side: I'm actually impressed with hubs who was quite proactive about all of this and seemingly (what's the opposite of a pushover?...he was that). I'm very much the organizer and planner of our household and for all of our sales, have pretty much been the one in charge. I'm impressed he's taken the reigns and is managing them well.

So...I'm hoping that the buyer sticks to his side of the agreement and voids those 2 conditions, which is what was agreed to on Monday. And I'm hoping he does it fast. Truly, this needs to be taken care of today.

Puh-lease cross your fingers, toes, eyes and whatever else you can for us.

Thanks for the help Om's

So, I think Oma got to work quickly in the past week pulling some strings and helping us all out she never could while earth-bound.

Sunday-we had a day full of wakes and family. Hubs still hosted an open house though as we'd already made some appointments for people to come by during it. Overall, it was a pretty uneventful open house according to him...until just after it ended.

4:00 rolls around (open house 2-4) and he gets a call from a guy who's come through a couple times over the past couple weeks and has expressed interest, although he's certainly not the first to tease us. Guy calls, hubs charms, guy offers, hubs negotiates, gents agree. He'll be coming by Monday morning first thing to agree to terms and sign the negotiation worksheet to bring to the lawyers. Yay! I'm not getting my hopes up, but this sure isn't a bad thing.

4:20 gets here and another guy comes through that's also been through a few times (we knew he'd be late) and this time brought his wife and child from Toronto. Hubs charms, guy expresses desire to make offer, hubs informs, guy says he'll call tonight if he's making an offer for same conditions, higher price than other guy. No call.

So the paperwork's signed the morning of Oma's funeral and it's off to the lawyers to do their thang...so Thursday, if not before, this could be a done deal. December 11 closing, no conditions. Sweet Jesus---don't make me go through the actions again for it to fall through once again.

Thanks Oma! Thanks St. Joseph!

And apparently I've become a Holy Roller...these things happen.

Memories

I have so many countless memories of this house and things that have happened in, around, and about it.It is my Oma & Opa's house and it's been around for over 50 years. My Opa literally built it with his own 2 hands (although I'm sure some friends and, eventually, my dad helped out as well over the years).

I know a lot of families say they're close, but we truly are SUCH a close family. There are 7 children (my dad and 6 sisters, poor pops), 16 grandchildren, 1 great-granchild and more on the way. With a family that big, you'd think people would start to go their separate ways over the years, start their own traditions, etc. Not so with us. We see them all every Christmas and Easter, of course. But birthdays, miscellaneous Sundays, anniversaries and just cuz dinners are certainly common.

My Opa passed away a little ove 4 years ago from the big C. Since then, we've all gotten to know my Oma just a little better, spending some one on one time with her really getting to know her as a person, not just as Ma or Oma. Many meals are still shared in this very house, and my Oma, a woman with so much loyalty, pride, dignity, class and love always politely refused to move. In fact, we had dinner there last night.

Sadly, however, it was a dinner following my Oma's funeral. She passed away to join Opa this past Thursday November 12th suddenly, although peacefully while visiting with her second born child.

It's been a rough weekend, seeing our parents, aunts, uncles and cousins deal with this sudden loss while dealing with it ourselves, however-it's also comforting to know that she's at peace and smooching Op's. She never had to see this house sold, she maintained an incredible amount of independence and activity until the day she died and she went quickly, peacefully and in the arms of loved ones. And...she got to avoid another lonely, brutal Canadian winter, which she's cursed in recent years. Above all, she knew she was loved beyond comprehension and her legacy lives on in the family that waits to see her again one day.


Love ya Om's!

Crafty Dreams...

I've added and removed this item from my wish list many times over the last few years. I've only removed it because of expense, not at all because I lost interest.

It's the Quickutz Silhouette. If you're crafty at all, I'm sure you've heard of the dream machine, Cricut. This is a similar concept.

Basically, it cuts shapes and fonts out of paper, vinyl and I'm sure other thin materials. In my case, it would be for cards, scrapbooks, misc crafts, etc.

The appeal of this one (personally) over the cricut is the price and the ease. I am ALWAYS drawn in to the shopping channel when they're featuring the Cricut and they make it look so easy. After that much use, I'm sure it is. But my understanding of the Quickutz Silhouette (QS) is that it works basically like a printer, except rather than ink lines, it cuts. Come on-if I'm right, that's genius.

Also, for the Cricut, you have to buy cartridges for each design, font, etc you'd like to use. I'm sure this can get fairly pricey. But with the QS, I've heard you can use any TFF font you already have (or download) and you can buy their designs for a couple bucks or something. Also, I read today that it can also print jpeg's pretty well. Sa-weet!

Anyways, obviously this blog doesn't invite any kind of sponsorship or anything, so this is completely my opinion and thought process as I'm getting ready to make my Christmas cards.

Here are some of the project ideas I've found:

Frig, this thing would have been handy when I was wedding planning.

It's about $250, so certainly not cheap. But for me, or anyone who likes crafting, it's certainly something to have on the list that includes a KitchenAid stand mixer, a sewing machine and a cuttlebug (another paper crafting machine thingy). I.e. the list of things you'll probably never get, but you can pretend you may sometime soon.

How about you? Any experience with the Cricut or QS?

Another One Bites the Dust...

Another deal fell through.

I didn't write anything about it on here, or really even talk to anyone other than hubs about it in the off chance that being superstitious would affect anything. I didn't want to jinx it.

It was the guy who came through when hubs did his first open house a couple weeks ago. They came back twice that day and upped their offer from the first to second visit. We hadn't heard from them, so thought (like most 'leads') it was a dead end. Then he called back and upped his offer again. It was still lower than we were comfortable accepting, so countered back and forth until we agreed on a number, date, etc. Yay! He works nights and we work days, so we were trying to figure when we could meet up for paperwork. Trust me-I was willing to take a vacation day and drive across the city if it was required. He was going to speak to his mother and call me back. That was yesterday. I hadn't heard from him today, so called and apparently they're putting an offer on a property in Centrepoint. I.e. NOT ours. Blech.

STOP now if you don't want to read excessive whining....

......


I warned you...

I have NO idea why our house isn't selling! It's priced very well (too well?) and other homes very close to ours (like down the street close) are selling quickly. Our house shows really well and it has tonnes of upgrades and features that people genuinely are seeming to really appreciate.

Obviously we've considered that it's us. Of course we have! We're not stupid, but I sincerely and honestly believe that I'm quite natural at this and very comfortable at it. Damnit-I'm good at it! I don't make it personal, I make sure to point out what should be pointed out and often cater these to the person/people viewing the home. I chit chat where appropriate, but always keep it professional/home related unless the viewer takes it somewhere else. And although I haven't really seen hubs do his thing, he got an offer his first open house, so he can't be that bad. He's very smart and knows construction and our house, so I'm sure he's good at it.

Seriously...why hasn't anyone bought our house! I'm flabbergasted. Truly. And not in a 'I love our house, so why don't other people too?' way, but in a realistic, rational way after a lot of research into the market, talking to professionals, etc.

So...do we take it down and stay a while? Do we enlist an agent? Do we reduce the price (again)?

I don't know, and although I'm at my wits end, hubs is also slowly getting there too.

I need a fairy Godmother...or something.

November Goals

I've personally got a short month this November right from the start, but let's give 'er a shot:

1. Send cards
2. Have a real date night with hubs
3. Sell House
4. Buy House
5. Start Christmas shopping
6. Meal plan each week
7. Sew something-anything
8. Try making a stew
9. Try 1 new recipe
10. Have people over for dinner at least once

Quite food related...could I possibly be a little hungry this morning???

October Goals-Judgement Day

I know, I know, it's November 9th!

But I was in captivity being a mutant and quarantined last week, so didn't have easy access to the internet.

So, here goes:

1. Send cards Completed
2. Have a real date night with hubs (it's anniversary month afterall) Completed-more than once!
3. Sell house Not completed!
4. Sell house (Twice for good measure) Not completed OKAY! Sheesh-I get it.
5. Buy house Of course also not completed
6. Enjoy Thanksgiving Completed!
7. Make at least 2 decent meals a week (I have been sooo supremely lazy/unmotivated to do any kind of meal planning or cooking in the last several weeks. Time to remedy that) Actually completed-I'm shocked.
8. Bake something (besides bread) at least once a week Partially completed. 3/4 weeks I did.
9. Go apple picking Completed
10. Get to work on time 2x this month I can't remember. I'm going to say not completed if I'm honest though-I wasn't as late as I have been, but I don't think I've been on time either.

Whoopsie-not my most successful month.

Missing

Wow--have I really not posted in that long?

Unfortunately, our excitement has waned slightly about the sale process the longer it's lasted.

Our listing went up on Sept 9-exactly 2 months ago. Since then, we've had 8 open houses (1 week we did the Saturday too) and had approx another 8 private showings. The open houses have always been successful and have always brought in at least 4-5 groups, often more.

In fact, hubs even did one open house while I was away in Toronto (to see the SYTYCD finale---yep. And no, I'm not a teenager). He was very nervous and was reluctant to do it at first, but it went really well, and it even got him his first offer! It was low, but still an accomplishment I'd say.

Our plan has been to show until the end of October and then take it down for the holidays, etc. This weekend's open house was to be our last, but we're just not ready to accept that it's not selling, so we'll see-maybe another week or so.

Last weekend, hubs & I hosted the open house together. Strange? I thought it could have been too, but I was really sick (actually was quarantined all of last week) and didn't want to do it alone. Plus, secretly, I wanted to see him do his thang and see how he does it. Maybe learn from each other? Before the open house, we buried a cardboard statue of St Joseph. A friend told me that doing this would bring luck, etc to real estate sales as he's the Saint of (among other things) real estate. I know! I had no idea there was such a saint either. But another friend had done it and sold their place within the week.

Anyways, we followed the directions, said a little prayer and off we went.

Here's hoping we've got a little miracle coming our way!